Cancer claims dedicated restaurateur Leo Kesler, 76
Tuesday, November 25, 2008 6:06 PM PST
By Amy M.E. Fischer
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E-mail this articleLeo Kesler, longtime manager of Longview’s Monticello Hotel, died Saturday at the Hospice Care Center after a short bout with cancer, according to his wife.
Kesler, 76, was enjoying his retirement from a lifetime in the restaurant business when he began showing signs of illness late last month, said his wife of 54 years, Kelso resident Dorothy Kesler.
An ultrasound revealed spots on his liver and pancreas, and doctors said he had an inoperable tumor. Three weeks later, he died.
“It is horrible because it was just way too fast,” Dorothy Kesler said Monday. “He was very special. ... Everybody just loved him. He was just so kind and giving. The girls who worked for him, they were all heartbroken.”
Born and raised in North Dakota, Leo Kesler served as a U.S. Army tank crewman in the Korean War from 1951 to 1953. He then ran his mother’s sign business company in Harvey, N.D., and owned a service station. He managed the town’s VFW and later owned the Artos Supper Club with a partner.
In 1967, he and his wife moved to Longview, where he worked at Weyerhaeuser Co. and the Kelso Elks.
In 1973, Kesler became food and beverage manager of the newly remodeled Monticello Hotel, then owned by Dick Winters. Over the years, Kesler left for other restaurant ventures but returned to manage the hotel a handful of times, his wife said.
He opened Kesler’s Restaurant in 1989 at 902 Ash St. in Kelso, leasing space from the Kelso Elks Club. He sold the restaurant in 1998 and began managing the Monticello Hotel again under the ownership of Annabelle and Phillip Lovingfoss.
After his retirement in 2002, Kesler spent his time fishing, feeding squirrels and birds, and helping his four sons with their businesses. His son Leo Kesler Jr. followed in his father’s footsteps by opening Kesler’s Bar and Grill in downtown Longview in 2006.
“He was just a very outgoing person,” Dorothy Kesler said of her husband. “He was known for high-quality service and high-quality food. You never got the cheap grades of anything. ... The best you could get was all he would settle for.”
A memorial service for Leo Kesler will be held in about three weeks. The time and date will be announced as details are finalized.
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